Dan Gray

“A 2022 paper found this backfires more than it pays off, hurting weak funds more than it helps strong ones.”

“Most public VC rankings implicitly reward AUM and brand recognition rather than dollar-weighted returns.”

“Data across every US IPO since 2020 raising over $3 billion in venture or private equity shows nearly universal underperformance versus the Nasdaq-100.”

“"A standard term sheet for GP-led SPVs: 2% commit, 0% fees, 10-20% carry" — Dan Gray, Odin (LinkedIn post)”

“The piece ties venture's short-form bias to the spiral of silence, where people suppress non-consensus opinions when they expect disagreement.”

“When VC inflows expand, incremental capital primarily funds incumbents. When markets contract, emerging managers bear disproportionate pain.”

“AI-based opportunity screening matched human analyst quality at 537 times the speed, making automated deal flow viable for scaled platform funds pursuing a smart beta index strategy rather than outlier hunting.”

“Value in VC firms resides in individual partners, not firm brand or process. Larger firms dilute individual partner influence and appear to scale primarily to reduce fundraising friction, not to improve returns.”

“Dan Gray at Odin wrote a structural critique of how venture capital's fee economics have decoupled from LP returns.”

“Of the 10 companies that raised more than $3B in private markets, only Robinhood shows a slight positive return vs. the S&P 500. A portfolio built on the thesis that large private raises signal quality would be at -120.5% today.”

“The same company held private for 14 years through multiple rounds absorbing ~$1B in VC capital generates $250M in fees, with no improved exit outcome.”

“The newsletter references a longread titled 'The disappearance of the ten-year fund' by Dan Gray of Odin”